as in serfdom
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Recent Examples of peonage
The Wilberforce Act covers physical abuse and peonage, which is forced labor.
—
Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 6 June 2024
Many drivers stick around for the full year to avoid those fees, enduring what amounts to debt peonage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
Redemptionists stymied Black progress toward economic independence through sharecropping and a debt peonage system that encumbered Black farmers with overwhelming financial burdens.
—Time, 15 Sep. 2022
For many years, prosecutions based on alleged violations of the 13th Amendment — passed in 1865 to outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude — focused on peonage cases, the use of financial debt as a loophole to enslave workers.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2022
See All Example Sentences for peonage
Judy L. Thomas, Kansas City Star, 6 June 2024
Many drivers stick around for the full year to avoid those fees, enduring what amounts to debt peonage.
—Andrew Kay, WIRED, 17 Jan. 2023
Redemptionists stymied Black progress toward economic independence through sharecropping and a debt peonage system that encumbered Black farmers with overwhelming financial burdens.
—Time, 15 Sep. 2022
For many years, prosecutions based on alleged violations of the 13th Amendment — passed in 1865 to outlaw slavery and involuntary servitude — focused on peonage cases, the use of financial debt as a loophole to enslave workers.
—San Diego Union-Tribune, 3 July 2022
See All Example Sentences for peonage
Recent Examples of Synonyms for peonage
Noun
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Their desire for freedom was at the same time a denunciation of serfdom.—
Michael Bruening,
The Conversation,
25 Feb. 2025
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The peasants’ goal was to overturn serfdom and create a fairer society grounded on the Christian Bible.—
Michael Bruening,
The Conversation,
25 Feb. 2025
Noun
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The people are crying out for relief from medical servitude and the Trump administration keeps doubling down on the oppression.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Apr. 2025
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The main character escapes servitude and arrives at a space station called the Eye, where different factions are fighting for both survival and freedom.—
Fran Ruiz,
Space.com,
20 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The event begins with Emancipation Day, marking the abolition of slavery on August 1, 1834.—
Robb Report Studio,
Robb Report,
9 Apr. 2025
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The edits were originally flagged by The Washington Post, which reported that changes stripped away key references to Harriet Tubman and softened language that once plainly conveyed the horrors of slavery.—
Amber Corrine,
VIBE.com,
8 Apr. 2025
Noun
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Given recent rumors that those in bondage intended to rebel, the delegation accepted his explanation, withdrew and convinced the waiting crowd outside to disperse.—
Andrew Lawler,
Smithsonian Magazine,
2 Apr. 2025
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For those freed from bondage, the end of the Civil War was a time of great hope and promise as well as profound disappointment and loss.—
Barbara Spindel,
The Christian Science Monitor,
12 Mar. 2025
Noun
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The all-electric Lexus RZ has a faux manual transmission for shifting gears and a yoke instead of a steering wheel.—
Erik Shilling,
Robb Report,
12 Mar. 2025
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But Knox, who was wrongly imprisoned during her 2007 study abroad semester in Perugia, Italy, twice convicted, and ultimately exonerated for the murder of her housemate Meredith Kercher, may never climb out from under the yoke of public opinion.—
Rachel Brodsky,
Rolling Stone,
24 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Peonage.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/peonage. Accessed 19 Apr. 2025.
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